T2
by Elfreida
Summary: Trouble. It always seems to find earth, and naturally the god of thunder and his companions cannot leave alone for more than a month. But they are not the only ones and this time their mission has been...complicated (that's even before one adds in the dissposessed and supposedly heartless god of chaos). The darkness stirs, though perhaps salvation is where you least expect...
1. Prologue

_**K, this is essentially a tribute to both Terminator 2 and the Thor universe, but will be set entirely within the later and have no actual crossover of lore or characters. Why? Because James Cameron is a genius director and T2 is one of the best scifi-action films of all time.**_

_**PROLOGUE**_

_In the year 2013, the Aether was destroyed on the dark world as it tried to enter the realms. _

_When it left its human host, for a long moment its existence was torn; it was both in the word and in the void – the space that howls, empty and echoing, in between. In that forgotten place, a fragment was cast from the burning carcass. Drawn by Malekith's designs on earth, it travelled in its death throes to that small world, populated by the sons and daughters of mankind, even as the Aesir and his companions fought for our deliverance. It came to me then, that cinder, and attached to the nearest living thing it could find. But its strength was not enough to consume even my small body. The Aether drew on the magic of the Drow, the dark elves, and created something altogether smaller. Nothing more than a spark of life, into which it poured the last of its being. Once it was within me, I could not resist the pull of the convergence, and fell through the fluid walls. Looking back on it now, I should have considered myself lucky I remained on earth at all._

_I was thirteen._

* * *

_**Asgard, the Present**_

"Did you really think your power greater than mine, frost giant? That you could truly carry the sceptre of the Allfather?"

"Well you always made it look so _effortless_, father."

"Dispense with these pleasantries. You do not consider me your father and _you _are certainly_ no son of_ _mine_."

The frost giant in question doesn't wince; ignores the feeling like being gored as if he has another body to put it in. If he ignores it enough, it will go away. It grows duller each day, in any case.

"Very well, Odin." He says evenly, as if this is a conversation about the weather. "Shall we discuss the state of your realm? Because I see it so clearly; the way it crumbles about us in the state of war and chaos _you _left it in."

He spits this last bit; he sees the Allfather's face change as the blow lands.

Unfortunately for Odin, there is little he can actually say: the realms are at peace. Asgard is being rebuilt. The threat is, for the moment, gone. Add to that the various minor improvements to small areas, particularly the focal points of Asgard's magical fields for which the 'Allfather' was _graciously _thanked by the Circle of Seers.

Not that Loki hasn't always known himself to be a competent and fair king.

Odin glares.

Ever prepared to bring war to peace. Death and destruction where order might be had instead. Loki has come to terms, in the aftermath of the Drow incident, that on earth he _might_ have acted with emotion and caused more chaos than order. After observing his procedure. But he has accepted this and endeavoured to improve. All systems need refinement, including his own impulsiveness. He has conquered it (_unlike _Odin). And now the fool stares him down as if Asgard's true king has not just shown him _how it's done_.

"Your pathetic attempts to usurp the throne end _here_."

"_Pathetic attempts? _Now that's just a _little _harsh, is it not? After all, I did succeed."

"And now you stand before your Allfather as if I have not thwarted you! Inducing the Odin-Sleep was clever, but not even you, Loki, could hold me under for so long!"

It _is _true that Loki planned to have more time before this inevitable confrontation. Yet he has had _months_ – time to have _emergency _plans at least. Things to hang over Odin's head…

He _was _going to kill him. This _was_ the original plan.

Get rid of the problem permanently.

Solve many additional problems.

Actually, it was only after…well, he changed his mind, as his mind is wont to change. He looks over Odin now and feels the black blade of revenge rising again in his blood – for the man that _caged _him, that denied him, that kept him from saving –

And like that the blade blunts against something else; a conversation, not long after Thor's return. The oaf needed comforting, and posing as the Allfather, Loki had been _forced_ to oblige. So they had spoken…about…Frigga…

How that had resulted in his _inability_ to terminate Odin, he couldn't make head nor tail.

"I will have your head on the great spire!"

"After all Thor has spoken of me?" He makes to sound genuinely shocked. "By now all of Asgard knows of my heroic sacrifice. Oh – and how will you explain to your _beloved _son that his engagement must now be called off, a mere _week _after you so _joyfully _gave your blessing."

He smiles as Odin goes white.

"Tell me you did _not…_"

"I did not."

The Allfather stares.

"But _you _did, wherein remains the current problem."

The colour comes back a _very _unflattering shade of half-exploded tomato.

"She is _here?_"

"Yes, of course. In light of recent events and her services to the nine realms, you invited her. With gratitude."

He expects this to make Odin more furious, but instead something…odd…happens. He stares for long enough that Loki becomes sincerely concerned – concerned that the old man has spotted some sort of flaw. Then seems to snap out of it.

"You…" the strong jaw tightens. He doesn't seem to have words ready for this and Loki cannot predict what they would be. It is almost as if a battle is taking place between Odin's sentiments, though why should _he _promote a conflict of priorities? The old man stutters and goes redder, before finally whirling dramatically back.

"You will remain in a cell whilst I clean up this _mess!_"

_What?_

Odin takes him there personally. As if he's trying to hide him. Loki might have complained – might have shouted at him for his sheer incompetence – but…and if plans must change…_did Odin honestly believe a hastily reassigned cell with no official guard would _actually_ hold him?_

* * *

_The deceiving of the Allfather had led to the nine realms' belief that Asgard was strong, and to Asgard's belief that Malekith's rage was defeated. But on the fringes, something remained. Not even Heimdall could see clearly what it was. It moved in whispers, riding the crest of the convergence. Every night he listened. And waited._

* * *

"I thought the Aether was destroyed – I saw it burn up!"

"As did I, my love. Cannot these readings be false?"

The seers looked at one another, and Heimdall shook his head.

"Tis the same power that took you. And it is on earth," He paused. "But not your earth. While the convergence holds, it distorts time as well as space. We believe the Aether has awakened in your earth's recent past."

"But if that's happened, won't it change stuff? Like, right now?"

Jane wondered (again) what they'd been thinking allowing _Darcy _to tag along.

"Not immediately." Heimdall's deep voice filled the hall. "It will take time for ripples of change to reach us, but when they do it could be catastrophic."

"Like a paradox!"

He fixed the intern with golden eyes.

"At best, we may stop the Aether, though not in time to save earth." Jane glared at him in horror. "At worst, the disruption to time itself will cause the walls between _times_ to rift and fold upon themselves. A chain reaction that will destroy the nine realms, as well as any evidence that they existed at all."

Silence echoed loudly in the chamber.

"Well, that doesn't sound good!"

"Darcy –"

"We must stop this! We must travel to where the Aether is and destroy it before it can be unleashed!"

"And how do we do that?"

"While the walls are still blurred, I can take you there. The bigger question is, what will your father say to such a venture. I assume you mean to go yourself?"

"Of course."

"And your companions?"

"Yeah!"

"Father will see the urgency of this mission –" _Nevermind that the brief respite of his good mood seemed to be over._ "– and we will succeed!"

* * *

_But the Aether's awakening was not only known to Asgard. Across the universe, heads were turning. Whether to lay claim to that ancient horror or to salvage what the dark elves left behind, it was hard to say, but one thing was for certain. _

_They were coming. _

_The only question was what they would find – and who would get there first._

* * *

**_A.N: Really shouldn't have started a new one, but hey, shoot me :) Got this idea in my head and it just sort of took shape after watching Thor 2 and then Terminator 2 again. Bit of stretching and individualising the magic and the physics (again, shoot me) but other than that, this is all the Marvel universe and the Thor characters. The framework for the story pastiches/celebrates the other film. _**

**_I love reviews. _****_I always like to know what people reading my work are thinking...and also I have an ego about writing to stroke before it wakes up and decides to attack my feet :P_**


	2. Pages 3-8

**STARTING UP**

_**New York, 1993**_

"Alex! Alex – where is that dumb kid?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Alex!"

The shouts reached the back yard like steel girders in a wood chipper.

"Boy, your mom sound's _pissed_."

"She's not me mum. Pass me that will you?"

"You gonna go?"

Alex raised one eyebrow, violet eyes several degrees flatter than the road. She took the wrench and set about tightening the bolts on the bike.

"You know you creep me out when you look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're _plotting_." Jed stuck out his tongue.

"And you read too many comics."

Alex straightened up, dropping the wrench back onto the dirty plastic table among the other tools just as Kristen made it round the corner of the house.

"Alex! You get up here right now!"

"I thought you wanted me to be more 'sociable'." Alex muttered, gaze unchanging. For most people, all she had to do was stare at them for long enough and they'd get uncomfortable and go away. Unfortunately, she'd been stuck with Kristen and Rob for long enough that they were getting immune.

"Don't you talk to me like that, young lady!"

Maybe on another day she might have considered the situation or at least _attempted _to calm it down. Today, though, just wasn't doing it. Perhaps it was the sapphire-blue sky everyone else seemed to love, or the sheer boredom starting to kick in now she was done with teaching herself Thermodynamics.

"Well, as you say," she kicked the stand and revved the engine in one move. "Suck it."

Jed jumped on the back as she pressed the accelerator, carving up the sprinkler-damp lawn as they went.

"Alex!"

"_Alex!_" She imitated shrilly. "Shit."

She'd be in trouble for that. A lot of trouble. Kristen might even call social security (again) and complain about her being a 'problem child', tears and _genuine concern _included. She might even get transferred if she was lucky. It was something to hope for.

"So where are we going?"

Alex smirked.

"Well, first we'll need this."

She drew a credit card from her pocket.

"Wow – this your mom's?"

"Okay, one: she is _not my mother. _And two, I'm not that thick. No, it's just some yuppie I pickpocketed outside that new bar up on the strand. They'd know it was me if I stole from Kristen and Rob."

"Yeah, your foster parents are kinda dicks."

The engine hummed steadily as they passed through the suburb. They _could_ get downtown, but it was a long way under the blistering sun and there was a galleria not too far away. Most girls her age would be there already – the ones with money, at any rate. All looking at the newest styles of short skirts and even shorter singlets. Bloody prostitutes in the making. They all thought she was weird for wanting to wear boys' clothes and keep her (undyed) hair cropped close to her ears. _With her own scissors_, she might add, which was considerably cheaper and a right sight wilder.

Just right.

It reminded her of when her mum would sit her down in the broken car or on the empty shell crate, running her fingers through the short strands. The sun would beat down onto it as well, turning it warm and making her wonderfully drowsy. That was before she grew up; started questioning why it was always burned out cars or stockpiles of munitions.

Before everything.

Revving a bit harder than necessary, she turned sharply to the left, dropping them onto the path that ran down behind the park. A hundred feet away, a face scanned the main road. It…looked human? Then again no one really looked closely. It was pale, belonged to a well-dressed personage in a nice suit and shoes, and it had dark, neatly oiled hair. If anyone had really thought on it, they would've noticed that the whole ensemble projected _exactly _the smart, well-to-do male model on the Rolex adverts currently circulating the magazines.

A bit more thought, and they've been a little unnerved at the focus he was directing into observing the passing cars.

But, no one was looking (that was the whole point).

* * *

"But, father –"

"I cannot have you running off on fool ventures. I have quite enough to contend with presently without losing my son to this – this wild chase!"

"But if the Aether, or whatever fragment of it that remains, awakens where it is, it may destroy the nine realms! Ask Heimdall; he believes that our only chance is to send our people to neutralise it before it can shatter the timelines."

Odin groaned. Perhaps it was Thor's imagination, but there seemed to be a definite (and wholly unheard of) uncertainty in the Allfather's countenance. And what was he contending with? In the past day alone, he had given orders for patrols and security checks seemingly at random with no explanation as to what was amiss. In fact, there had been something _off _all week. And now this…

"You will not go alone." Odin said suddenly, deciding. Thor's eyebrows shoot up.

"Really? No…arguments about Asgard's defences?"

"You are set on going; you must go."

"Oh."

He'd expected to debate it for at least another half hour.

"_But_ you _must _be accompanied. There is no telling how many bounty hunters will be even now on their way. That in itself might cause what we are trying to prevent, so you must be prepared to stop them as well and you cannot do that without aide. Take your…companions." The Allfather seemed to struggle for some reason. "And with you also will be Sif. That makes four. Four will not be noticed, but it will be enough to achieve you end."

"Sif is on Alfheim supporting our part of the allegiance with the light elves."

"Then Fandral. He is on leave from battle after the incidents on Nilfheim. Send for him and leave as soon as you are able." He muttered something else, but Thor didn't quite catch it.

"Thank you," he breathed out in relief. "We will stop this, father. You have my word."

"Yes." Odin inclined his head wearily. "Thor?"

"Father?"

"…your mortal. She has…kept you strong. She has, from the moment you met her, encouraged you to do the right thing, even if it meant breaking the trust of others or disobeying my order.

"She…takes care of you."

"Yes. Always."

Thor could not help but smile.

Odin chuckled gently, seemingly lost in thought.

"_Women_." He looked back up and Thor could see the ache in his heart. He nodded, meeting the understanding in Odin's eyes without the need for words. Sharply, he turned to the task ahead, a new energy lighting his heart.

Now was which tavern to wake up their dashing fourth.

* * *

"Hurry up, will ya!"

"Shut up! I just need – yes! Here we go." The little hand-held device decoded the numbers, breaking past firewalls and encryptions as if they were high school passwords. "What did I tell you? Withdraw…four hundred. Cash. Bucks."

She punched it in.

"That's just too cool."

"It's theft, it's not meant to be cool." Alex muttered. "But for poor beggars like us –"

She took the notes with glee.

"Easy money."

"Oh _boy_. What you gonna do with it?"

"I dunno, what do you want to do?"

Jed thought about it.

"Bowling?"

* * *

_The sky above Manhattan was blue as could be on that particular day, making it difficult for the ship to remain undetected. But it would be years before any would learn to expect anything like it, so its presence went unnoticed by the human population. The one that did notice – the man leaning against a tree in a secluded corner of Central Park – wasn't human, after all. How he came to be there, beneath that ship on that day, remains a coincidence I refuse to believe._

* * *

"Oh…bring up a seat, old chap. Give ush another drink, my lovely girl!"

"Fandral, you must listen, there isn't much time."

"Trouble's afoot!"

"Yes. And I need your help."

"Of course you do! You and your _lovely _lady…"

Thor supressed a sigh as the warrior's head hit the table once more.

"Fandral you must rouse yourself and come as soon as you are able!"

The poor man frowned, but seemed to understand the concept, in at least as far as waving away the next drink. He let loose an almighty belch, and lurched up from the table.

"We will slay all who stand in our path!"

"That's the spirit, my friend."

"What world are we perchance saving today?"

"Midgard." Thor felt a sudden and inexplicable sense of unease. "But what we do may save all the worlds."

Fandral raised his golden brow and allowed the thunderer to steer him away to sober up.

"But whatsh attacking Midgard this time? Really, you would think all the evil in the realms would've gotten _bored_ of that little world…or at the very least given up trying to conquer it. It is _un_conquerable. And holds very little."

Thor laughed incredulously.

"You see nothing, my friend. Earth has its _people_, and they are of stronger stock than any other world in the cosmos."

"I suppose…"

"And it is a world many can hide on. A place that accepts any that fall to it, friend or foe. And it is a great foe that fell." Fandral took the proffered potion and drained it. "The Aether still lives, it seems. And it has found its way to the Midgard of twenty years past."

"I take it that we are to find it and destroy it before it changes the Midgard of the Present?"

"And any others who might wish to find it for themselves." Thor confirmed grimly. Fandral sighed, letting the restorative take effect before grinning and winking heartily at his friend.

"What are we waiting for, then? Let us be off! It wouldn't do to keep the Aether waiting!"

* * *

"You cheated!"

Alex frowned in an attempt to figure out exactly _how _she could've cheated had she planned to.

"_Shit_."

"Just cos I wiped the floor with you." She smirked at Jed sulking as they bought popsicles from a stand outside.

"You know, you're good at everything you do." He said suddenly. Alex raised an eyebrow; she didn't abide flattery. But Jed wasn't being flattering, he was actually confused.

"…yeah?" She shifted uncomfortably. "And?"

"Why aren't you like in one of those smart-person high-schools? And why aren't you with your mom, you talk about her all the time."

Alex kicked the base of a bin, earning disgusted looks off some nearby adults.

"Just shut the fuck up, okay."

"Alright, alright! I was just asking."

"Well don't."

He looked awkwardly around the sun-glittering exterior of the complex.

"Wanna ditch and go to that laser tag out near the highway?"

"Yeah." She let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, but after doing the arcade stuff _here_. The ones up at that place are pretty lame."

"Right, I'll get us some quarters."

He disappeared inside as she licked the icy, lemonade flavoured sweet. Actually the lemonade was pretty crappy, but that didn't stop her licking it dry. The action set off several sensors that were attempting to remotely monitor changes in her body temperature, but they'd already got the data required without that blip. A message was sent to the person on the road (as well as to five others in place around the city).

They were ready for the hunt.

They each might have been very interested to know, however, what was happening currently on their command ship.

* * *

"Oh – oh it's YOU."

"How very astute of you. Yes, quite _observant._"

"Not observant enough." The creature rapidly tries to morph into something not affected by the hand at its throat. "Because we had been under the impression that you _desired _Earth's destruction. _And_ that you were _dead_."

"Yes, I just haven't stopped moving yet. A fault you yourself seem to be _suffering_."

"No! Wait…_wait_,"

"For what, exactly?"

"…_it'll come to me…_"

The creature suddenly chooses this moment to freeze solid.

"Dull creatures." He mutters to himself, easily accessing the central data core. "_Why were you hiding? What did you find?_"

He has only a passing interest in encountering the Aether once again – hence why he has completely ignored its faint, dark presence thus far. Let it fester. If he is to be confined to earth by his chance encounter of the blasted, little world (because moving at this point would attract the attention of those currently watching) then he might at least find entertainment in the humans running blindly about in the chaos. As for the creature itself…it brings too many memories too close. Let the so-called hunters slay themselves over it. That would prove a momentary distraction in his current position. _Yes, let the idiots claw each other's eyes out for a thing which cannot be claimed by any but its master._

Really, he was beginning to despair for the Realms' criminal underclass.

He must admit, though, that the Crax are more organised than most: they have collected reconnaissance. Detailed profiles. Triplicate signed research orders. Held _Strategy Meetings. _He scoffs.

If there is one thing he really can't abide (specific people for the moment notwithstanding) it is a pirate ship armed with _bureaucracy._

Still, they have identified something else…a blip on their scans. Easily something unimportant; easily something far more powerful than they that has been covering its presence.

Loki stills.

Anger wakes from coals deep in his mind. The sort of hatred that has no light nor reason, but rather a _direction_ that cannot be turned. It is inadvisable, and _reason_ tells him that no good can come of this. Let it rest. He can stand _not_ exterminating their entire race in a rampage fuelled by drunken revenge; not least because he knows he will fail. He knows now that pain and fury drive him further than his brilliant mind can follow, and if he does not have that he cannot anticipate clearly, or compensate for a problem.

Beneath that…_far_ beneath…he also knows now that revenge will not sate him. It will not ease the open wound he carries like a scar (because pretending that it is healing and ignoring it is somehow easier to bear) and it will not right what is wrong with the world.

_Right what is wrong? _When on _Asgard _did he become so ridiculous? _He_ was _wronged_ by others, and by _what _measure must _he_ answer for the Realms? It was not his fault that they were all such dullards driven by power and destruction. That they all made as if his actions were alone in a sea of good will was the height of insult. What did he _owe _the universe that he should act differently? _Why _should he _care?_

_So perceptive of everyone but yourself._

A sound leaves him as he smashes the control panel, cracking the room apart in a shower of fire and glass and smoke. He stands in the wreckage with hands clenched into fists as if this will contain him. He _hates _her that she can still manipulate his thoughts. _He HATES her._

He chooses not to notice the bitter slide of moisture down his face.

_It will not reveal itself until it is ready; _he cannot hunt it.

_It will seek the host._

* * *

**_A.N: I chose New York because why not. As for specific places in NY, I have google maps from half a world away, so apologies if the geography is a bit vague or innacurate. Also, I set it in the ninties because I can draw a bit more of the design work from Terminator concerning the world setting and such like. _**

**_...also, reviews precious?_**


	3. Pages 8-12

**IN THE OFFING**

"Darcy, come _on!_"

"Hey! _You're_ the one that said 'we're going to earth, gee why don't we drop in and pick up my _entire lab_'."

"If we are to track the Aether, we must have such technology." Thor reminded her reproachfully.

"Yeah, not all of it." Darcy mumbled, struggling to unplug the insane number of wires trailing out the back of the Big Black Box.

"Darcy is right," Fandral leant dashingly against one wall. "We must still be able to move with speed if we are to get there first."

Jane threw up her arms exasperatedly.

"I just need that, the radio dishes and the laptops! It'll all fit in the back of the van."

"If you say so." The intern yanked out the last wire and struggled to hoist the BBB out of Jane's mom's living room. Luckily the thunderer was on hand to relieve her and carry it off like it was a pizza box.

"Alright, that's everything." Jane grabbed a coat from the hook and turned to Thor. "How are we getting there again?"

"Well with the world's walls still in the state they are, Heimdall can simply open a door through from here to there." Fandral said casually.

"We will drive through." Thor's mouth twitched as he looked deep into Jane's eyes. Darcy rolled her own and hoped that this trip didn't end up like the last time they'd driven into a storm.

She still had her taser, though. Just in case.

"Did you call Eric?" Jane's guilt said it all. "Come on, you said you'd call him when we got back."

"Yeah, but…I don't wanna worry him, alright? I'll call him when we get back from _this_."

"You mean 'if' we get back!"

"Darcy, I promise you now: I will bring both of you home." Thor had the Serious Face. "Neither me nor Fandral will let any harm befall you, and I will not lose you. Either of you."

"Yeah, yeah, fine!" She seized her own coat and wondered if you could get eyeball damage from rolling them too much. "Let's just get this thing on the road."

"Hey, where we're going we don't need roads."

All three of them stared at Jane.

"It's just…oh, goddamn it, let's just go!"

* * *

"We lost the ginger and four-eyes. We're on our own."

"Just us?"

"Just us."

Alex gripped the rifle.

"Then perhaps the time has come."

She looked Jed in the eye, and he nodded solemnly. As one, they drew up from their crouch. There was a brief moment when she felt as if she should say something, but it past and left them stood simply behind the crate. Yes, the time was now. She nodded back.

"AAARRR!"

They rose like the beast from the black depths of the sea and _charged_. Firing blind, she dived behind the first wall and spun onto one knee. The laser didn't have knockback, but it wasn't a habit she was willing to kick. Braced to her shoulder and steady as a lammergeyer, she found the blink of red in the dim.

"Alex!"

They couldn't see her.

"Alex!"

"_Shut –_"

_Click. _The dark, ominous atmosphere of the arena lifted in a second, revealing a blank wash of black paint under the floodlights. As Jed stood, stretching, she slowly uncoiled from the metal and plastic.

"Eleven?"

"Here." The fourteen and fifteen-year-olds parted with varying disbelief as she held out her hand for the score sheet.

"Still running champion."

"How d'you do that?" Jed asked once they were back at the stairs out of the basement.

"I learnt it off me mother."

"What, she was a soldier?"

Alex didn't slam him into the wall. She did, however, grab his denim jacket and yank him round the corner.

"No, she were a gun runner, you idiot. Now shut up."

"_What?_"

"That's why I'm in the system. She's in a bloody psych ward, okay?"

"_Jeez…_"

"AND you're going to _shut up _about it right now, _RIGHT?_" She jerked them nose to nose.

"Y-yeah!"

She realised dimly that she was holding him up the wall.

"_Shit._" He slumped as she let him go, pulling harshly on the straps of her rucksack. "Come on."

"Where now?"

Suddenly the hairs at the back of her neck stood up as if she'd touched a Vander graph. She looked round. There was nothing but a vending machine and black chewing gum polka dotting the cheap eighties carpet: they were the only ones in the corridor. _And yet_…

"Upstairs."

"But I thought you said it was lame!"

Jed had to run to keep on her heels as she took the stairs to the second floor two at a time.

"Most arcades are anyway." She muttered, striding purposefully (not running, don't run). Still on the ground floor, a shadow that shouldn't have existed in the middle of the day watched the two suits enter by the glass doors. They looked at each other, then at their hand-held devices. These were cleverly designed to mirror human technology. In fact they were crafted so well, they would've blended in perfectly had they not been over a decade out in their model.

A pity. They'd obviously spent a while on that apple symbol.

The shadow identified the girl and followed. He checked to keep himself cloaked from the humans and Crax alike. Such stupid, blind creatures – both races. Another count of evidence as to why the universe should never have existed in the first place. He could feel the magic stirring…except it wasn't quite right, for some reason. It was different.

Not so different that the Drow could doubt his target, but just different enough to prevent an accurate reading on the creature inside. Certainly it stopped him remotely awakening it. Which was a set-back, it was true, but ultimately the old-fashioned methods worked just as well.

He watched the amateurs slip past the humans with only a few stares.

_Irrelevant._

The girl didn't stop. Still walking fast.

"Alex –"

"They're following us."

"What?"

She pulled them behind a pillar and pointed across Jed's disbelieving face.

"…oh _shit_. That FBI?"

"No." Alex looked at them (looked properly) and spotted what everyone else was missing.

"Who else would be in suits?" His eyes suddenly blew wide. "They're from the mob? Out to get you cos of your mom?"

"No and probably."

"Then –"

"Jed." The suits hadn't stopped on their way towards them. "I want you to run –"

"No! No way, I'm not going anywhere!"

Alex sighed frustratedly and fisted her hands back in the denim.

"I want you to run. That way. Fast." She hissed, pointing across the busy arcade floor. "And I want you to make a lot of noise as you do it. Do you understand me?"

For a second, he was mute. Then he nodded once.

"Good."

She didn't pause on ceremony as she shoved him bodily, sending him careening out onto the floor. He picked himself up in a second and screamed. He ran towards the suits, but veered off at the last minute, tripping over his own feet, and landing painfully over one of the chairs.

"The hell d'ya think you're doing?"

Jed moaned, but it was cut off by the Shadow picking him up by the throat.

"Where is the girl, little boy?"

This, contrary to the twelve-year-old's previous opinion of himself, made him burst into tears. It was the face, though – the grey, alien skin, the nearly white eyes and the horrific scarring – that made him wet himself.

The Drow dropped him in disgust, caring little for the way his head cracked against the side of a machine, his body going limp.

* * *

Alex hadn't waited around to see. The moment she'd shoved Jed, she was already pelting in the opposite direction towards a service door. Her footsteps pounded in her ears off the concrete walls, but she knew she couldn't stop. Not even slightly. _What the hell were they? _She tore into a stairwell and nearly tumbled down it, slamming headlong into the fire door at the bottom. _Locked_.

"_Shit. Shit. Shitshitshit_ –"

She fumbled desperately for her lock picks. The lock wasn't coming open. She could hear their feet on the stairs…

"_Yes._"

She wrenched it open, wincing at the alarm that kicked into life above her head, stumbling and flailing into the carpark.

_Bike._

She almost overlooked it in her panic, but there it was. Start peddle kicked, stand away, accelerator revving – she must've looked like a lunatic, but at that precise moment she didn't care as she burst out onto the road.

_Where was she going? _She couldn't (no, _wouldn't_) go home. But where else?

Her first instinct was to find a crowd: lots of people, lots of witnesses. But if there was anything life had taught her, it was that grown-ups didn't always know what to do. It was a lie they told kids so that they did what they were told. It didn't necessarily mean there was someone qualified giving the orders.

She hoped Jed would be okay.

Even Americans only rarely killed children.

_Where?_

She found herself back at the galleria without ever really having thought about it. Bike parked, she sprinted to the main floor and pulled up. Her breath was thunder.

What was so wrong with the suits? They were the same. They weren't just generic copies of men in suits, _they were the same as each other. _Down to the eyes. But that wasn't possible, of course it wasn't possible, she didn't do 'impossible'. Not now, and before it was bullshit anyway, so –

She ducked neatly behind a machine, laughter, triumph and children screaming at machines covering her, and forced her heart rate down. There was another suit – another _mirror _– stood at the other end of the floor, and she suddenly realised what a fuckup idea it was coming back to the same place. She'd been erratic enough not to be intercepted in the backstreets. _She hoped. _Actually they seemed to be keeping a ten foot distance.

"They are afraid."

_Did she dare turn?_

Of fucking course.

The thing had grey skin and pointed ears and ridges across its brow and it was staring at her with eyes the colour of the moon. It was some bloody good makeup, that's for sure. And its expression was nothing short of disdainful. The worst bit was that no one else seemed to be able to see.

"Their eyes are not like yours. And I allow you to see."

"Why?"

The word shot through like a bullet. The thing looked surprised, but didn't flinch. It could've said any number of things after that; any number of threats or promises. Alex decided in a split second she didn't want to know. She dived past the thing's navel and under between the first legs she saw. Up straight, scrambling, and –

It stared at her with the same contempt. It even held out its hand. In contrast, the suits seemed almost confused, approaching and checking earpieces. They couldn't see it either?

She bolted to the left, sprinting and weaving through obstacles with all the energy she suddenly had. People shouted and made a mess of getting out of her way, but she was small and quick.

"Then you chose pain."

Without warning, a sensation like the blood was being ripped out of her skin spread like pooling water from her hands and feet up. It was wrong though; it kept stuttering and it didn't hurt terribly, just stung like pins and needles.

Running, though. That was more of a problem. It was suddenly very like trying to push through high winds – but only in her knees and forearms, which was weird. Not weirder than the fact the voice was in her head, though. Which was the only conclusion after turning round and round to find the thing still standing by the speed boat simulator.

"_Come._"

Then it was behind her and _now _people were leaping aside, staring at her as if she were the monster. She turned again, trying to keep It in view; trying to back away. Her hands and feet were distracting though – they were glowing and shedding light like the dust in sunbeams. The pins and needles were getting higher, and they were _purple_. Bright, lurid purple.

The creature reached from nowhere to grab her and she couldn't stop the scream, or the horror.

She did, however, move. She may have been a little girl, but the buggering hell if she was going to be the one that _stood there_ screaming. No, she jumped like she'd had a cattle prod shoved up her arse and sprinted as hard as she could. It was following, she _knew_, but she wasn't going to die or get kidnapped or be _touched _until she'd fought with every breath. Granted, for a twelve-year-old that wasn't much, but she'd still _damn well _give it.

It swore in a language like a space dust storm.

She wondered why…until something else tried to blindside her. It was one of the suits. It took a clumsy swipe and she ducked, hitting the wall. Her arms and legs were still lit up like she were a fucking Christmas tree, but oddly it seemed to have stopped there. And the voice of the thing was fainter, too. It was being quite distracted as the suits panicked; half of them (_since when were there so many?!_) shooting at the thing and the other half rushing to try and snatch her first. They were firing lasers.

_Actual lasers._

A real height of comic irony.

She followed the wall, found a door and flew through it, feet springing. Another door and she was back to concrete walls.

_Shit. _

There were doors. _Locked _doors.

_Shit._

They were too close behind for her to do more than try the handles. She weaved – and felt the burn like a lightning bolt pass her ear.

It was closer.

She tried not to scream. She kept going. Kept trying. Felt like the corridor was about to snap shut like a rat trap.

_Come on come on come on –_

She did scream. Not loudly and through clenched teeth, but it was still a scream as she dived round a corner…

_Green eyes. For a split second she saw the Suit, but the image resolved itself in less time than it took to blink. It wasn't a suit; it wasn't the creature either. It looked human; a bit tall and pale. The eyes, though. Inset into the white face, they were arresting. The sort of colour she imagined of the lakes up in Canada, but colder still._

She skidded to a halt.

She stared at him.

"Get down."

She didn't think twice.

* * *

_**A.N: Hope people got the movie refferences (there were a few) and apologies for a non-thorough edit. I usually do it as I go, but when it's late at night, I tend to catch fewer errors. Some of the inspiration comes from Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series, and certainly watching Joss Whedon's Firefly whilst writing the last bit was very refreshing :P**_

_**Reviews are always appreciated :) Just the sort of thing to brighten my day.**_


	4. Pages 12-18

**BOOM**

"Where are we?"

"We've come out on the west side of the river." Jane was already out and opening the boot. It had been a surprisingly bumpy ride and she was worried about the equipment. They were relying on it, after all, and with the universe in the balance they couldn't afford to have made a long trip for nothing.

"Ow, I didn't remember it being that rough." Darcy fell out, held up by Fandral. Astonishingly, the warrior himself looked almost green. It took Jane a moment to remember that this was his first time in a car.

"The convergence is reaching its last days. As the walls begin to close, travel such as this will become more and more treacherous."

"Well," Jane pulled a long object delicately out from beneath the laptops. "Let's hope we'll be long gone before then."

"Indeed."

"Yeah – Darcy could you…"

But Darcy had frozen, staring across at the city as it glittered under the sapphire sky.

"Darce, I need your help!"

"Jane…"

"What?"

She came to stand at Darcy's shoulder.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Jane stared.

"…yeah."

"What is it?"

The four of them stood abreast by the shore, and Jane pointed out the towers standing clearly in the skyline; a pair that went together.

"I don't recall them."

"They came down." Darcy said softly.

"In Loki's attack on your people?" Fandral put a hand oh-so surreptitiously on Darcy's shoulder, but the intern shook her head, still staring.

"Years before." Jane looked at Thor. "Everyone remembers where they were. I was watching it with my dad, all ready for school, arms around my knees."

"Yeah, I was already at school. In early for hockey. Had the teachers tell us."

"Just…weird seeing them up."

Jane wondered if she should do something. She didn't have a hat to take off, and saluting just seemed like bad taste.

"It affected you?"

"Affected everyone."

Thor nodded solemnly.

"Right." Jane seemed to shake herself out of it. "Right. Let's do this."

"Can we help?"

She eyed the dashing Asgardian. He had a hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword; habit, she supposed. She sighed.

"I just need to plug the laptop into the relay and the radio dishes go on top…like that." She mimed attaching them to the box. They were all still stood around ten minutes later as she booted up the program and clicked 'scan'. Darcy scuffed her feet on the rough concrete, staring at the assembled equipment.

"How long's the life gonna be on that thing?"

"Couple of hours. I put an old dell battery into it."

"Right." She scuffed the ground again. "How far away will it pick up stuff?"

"My dear girl, the traces of this creature can be detected from worlds away." Fandral flashed another grin at her.

"Yeah, but all we have is a _tiny_ array!"

"It'll show up." Jane was still staring at the 'scanning' animation. "It'll show us what direction to go in and roughly how far. It's as good as we're going to get, but it should be fine."

"Yes," Thor stepped forward to place a gentle hand on her shoulder. "And let us hope nothing happens in the meantime."

* * *

The world seemed to explode. Light and heat seared her eyes as something blasted past. The pain stabbed. She was pinned and _completely _blind, but she could hear the suits falling back. More lasers and she yelled when what appeared to be fireballs sprang into existence to fill the space, but for some reason not one of them hit her. They came close, but never touched.

She raised her head. The stranger was battling the others with knives and fire, not so much as sparing her a glance. Thus she did the sane thing.

She ran.

Well, crawled and then ran. She got clear of the smoke, pulled herself to her feet, and bolted, ignoring the sudden agony in her limbs that had nothing to do with the purple light. Yet she barely made it ten feet before something flew out of nowhere to land front of her: a suit of silver and gun-metal-grey armour aiming a – _was that a fucking ROCKET LAUNCHER?_

She tried to dive past, but it held the bazooka in one hand and fired a smaller, satellite dish-on-a-stick with the other.

The concrete stung.

She cried out as joints and muscle crunched; her ears rang. Again, she couldn't see for the smoke, fire and booming sounds rattling above her. But far worse was the impact that pinned her to the floor. _What use was letting them kill each other if she couldn't MOVE?_ And one man against all of them? Well he wasn't a man, she knew that, but he was sort of a one-man kamikaze Rambo at the minute, and forgive her if she was starting to panic now.

Somehow she saw through the miasma as the creature came, eyes moon bright as it reached –

Her shoulders were grabbed and she was hauled upright. With little dignity on her part, she was marched at speed away and away from a battlefield that didn't seem to have noticed. When she looked back, she saw that the afterimage of her staring, horror rising, still lying crouched on the floor.

The entire fight collapsed onto that one point, and that was the last thing she saw as the man whipped onwards. He wrenched her wrist violently to his fingertips and the violet glow vanished – instantly. It was like a light switching off, but he didn't so much as offer a smile. He frogmarched her until they were at the outer door.

"Do not run."

He was forced to release her as he bent to press his hand to the lock – which sprang open at his touch. She didn't answer. She merely followed him into the glare, expecting vaguely that _someone – _perhaps someone of the concerned crowd now in front of the Galleria – would notice a little girl being lead out by a man in black.

They didn't. Then she looked down and realised why – they didn't look like a rough tomboy and a strange man. They were a father and his daughter, clearly shaken by the explosions behind the walls, but otherwise perfectly normal.

"Um," she looked around, trying to act as if her heart weren't in her throat. "Where to now?"

He looked at as if seeing her for the first time.

"You're trying to keep me alive." She was proud of her steady voice; it wasn't a question. "That bit wasn't hard to work out. So…for whatever reason…you don't, um –"

He stared down at her with silver-blue ice and she shivered into silence. Sounds drifted past: every day sounds. Cars, people, sirens – humans and the city, all rolled into the exhalations of one organism. All that with them stood apart on the pavement, unnoticed.

_Unmissed _supplied a very nasty voice, but she shot it down. There was no room for thoughts like that. Not here; not now. Not ever, really, but that was another point. She took a deep breath and refocused on her (for the moment) protector, refusing to glance at his vice-like hold on her. Her wrist would be bruised, yes, but bruises healed. And, more importantly as he all but dragged her at a punishing pace down the street…

"Those things back there –"

"Aliens."

Curt and brutal. He was trying to scare her.

"I know." She concentrated on the concrete – on her feet – before spotting her opportunity. She stumbled; would've gone head over heels if he hadn't been holding onto her so tightly. He let out a long-suffering growl, grip never ceasing, but he did let her blind-side him. With a twist that sent nails through her wrist, she brought her knee up between his legs and wrenched backwards.

It would've worked. Had he let go of her. Which he didn't.

He bellowed at the same time as a crack shot through the air like a gunshot and left her screaming. The pain was white-hot iron, jamming between the tiny carpel bones; rippling on and on. She couldn't move her fingers. Again, she tried to pull away, but the agony pulling _right there _almost had her blacking out. Suddenly, she was trapped against a fence, sounds of the road nearby, but muffled. The stranger's face was inches from her own, wight-like with rage. Still, she didn't scream in terror, or cry. She stared defiantly back fighting the pain.

"Don't. Do. That. _Again_."

"Give me one reason not to!"

He pulled at the shards of bone still rattling inside her wrist and she shrieked, vision blurring. She wasn't scared of pain anymore – her childhood had taken care of that – but it still fucking _hurt._

A hand pressed asphyxiatingly over her mouth.

"_Quiet! _Listen you miserable _wretch – _you owe me your _life_, and if you want to stay that way you'll do _exactly_ as I tell you. _Do you understand me?_"

The hand still blocked her mouth, but she was clearly expected to nod. She glared.

"This is not a difficult concept." He hissed, bearing his teeth and leaning even further in. "You stay and be a good little girl for me, or I throw you to the scavengers."

Alex raised an eyebrow. Then bit him.

"_Oh_, you'll regret –"

"So I'm that valuable?" Her eyes were watering from the pain, but she studiously ignored them. The stranger jerked back, face scrunching.

"What?"

"I'm that valuable to you alive."

He paused, hand still _excruciatingly _on her wrist, but no longer pulling, staring at her for a long time. She resisted the urge to look awkwardly away; squirm under the analysis, but she'd perfected the art of staring back. She didn't even flinch when he moved his hands away.

"You'd rather I not resist. Go with you willingly so you don't have to hurt me. You don't want to kill me, though."

"I thought we had already established that." His words were burnt silk. "Counterproductive."

"And do I come out alive afterwards? I mean –" she quickly clarified. "– you stop them killing me, then what?"

His eye were chillingly blank.

"Yeah, see, that's where I'm having the problem cooperating with you."

"Your cooperation doesn't matter to me, mortal."

"Yeah, but me resisting does. A bit. It's inconvenient!" She knew she sounded desperate, but hey – she was stuck against a wall with a psychopath; it was justified. Said psychopath was suddenly close again.

"Why does it matter if you die now or later?" _His voice; like a tingling…_ "Everyone dies. Mortal."

"Yeah. I'm _twelve!_"

He stopped.

"I want to bloody live a bit longer, thanks! And, um…if you're going to do that mind control-y stuff, I don't think it's working."

He sat back on his heels, eyebrows shooting up his face. She realised she'd genuinely surprised him. The look didn't stay, but it had been there. It was replaced by a cool dispassion that was disconcerting following the anger.

"So…"Alex felt her own brows rise. "If you want me to cooperate, I want something to go on."

"How about not dragging your small intestines out through your miserable little mouth."

"That works." Alex shrugged. "I want to live longer."

The ice-eyes narrowed.

"So if I swear to let you go, safe and sound, _after_ I am done with you and the crows….you'll come quietly?"

"I don't know about quietly." Her breath hitched hard as she tried to stand up. "But I promise to stop kicking you in the testicles. And I promise to be as much a help as I can."

"How could _you _possiblybe helpful to _me?_"

"I dunno!" Another attempt had her biting back more screams, sweat beading like a prickling fever, but the stranger didn't move. Just watched her struggle.

"All this if I tell you you'll live?"

Alex breathed out in a painful _whoosh_.

"If you _promise_."

"You would…trust my word?"

He seemed absently surprised by that too, but she just continued staring, gritting her jaw as she finally managed to get upright.

"Yeah. Only if you give it."

It was a challenge; one she had neither right nor position to give, but gave anyway. After a moment, he gave his chin a twitch.

"Fine –"

"You're going to lie."

"What?"

"The way your lip pinches up like that, making your chin look all wrinkled. You're about to say something where you don't believe a word of it."

"_I could throw you onto the road_ –"

"But you won't."

They stared at each other some more across what Alex now recognised as a storm overspill. The concrete stank under the blazing sun and, finally, the stranger's face contorted with frustration.

"If it's that hard, I'm gonna just start kicking again."

"You want me to promise?"

"Yes!"

"Very well." He glared, teeth clenched. "I swear that your _live_ body will be left here upon my leave."

Alex blinked.

"Good enough for me."

"Good!"

Suddenly he strode forwards and grabbed her upper arms, fingers digging in. There was a squeezing feeling, then the sensation like all her organs trying to burst themselves through her skin. Darkness surrounded them. But it wasn't complete darkness. It was more like the darkness that happens during a solar eclipse; like moonlight during the day.

It only lasted for a second, and then the world was back, suffocating summer heat and all. Alex felt her stomach rise before she could stop it and spewed over the tarmac of the empty carpark. The stranger leapt back in disgust. She heard him striding away, muttering something about mortals and bodies as she automatically raised her hand to her face.

"AHHFUCKFUCKIHA!"

"Will you be _QUIET!_"

"Fuck!" She whimpered, trying to control the shaking as she stumbled away from the sick.

"What is wrong with you?"

She gave him a deadpan glare.

"Oh really. Already? Your chances of survival are looking slimmer even before we start!"

"Fuck you."

"Such eloquent language."

She spat, cradling her hand awkwardly to her chest, and found a car bonnet to drop onto.

"What now?"

The pale face suddenly spread with a smirk Alex wasn't sure she liked. He strode carefully towards her, sharp and assessing, a gleam of something much darker in the suddenly dark green irises.

"Now…we wait."

"For the thing with the grey skin? That's what you're after?" The stranger stopped. Refusing to be uncomfortable, Alex shrugged. "It was the only one that got close. The rest didn't stand a chance."

"Indeed."

He said nothing else. Minutes slipped by, interrupted here and there by the throbbing in her wrist. And then hours. It was a very good thing that, whilst relatively easily bored, she had at least a modicum of patience virtue of years of being stuck out in the middle of nowhere whilst her mum smuggled firearms. She just…let her mind wander. Detached it from the world at large and forced herself to calm down, running through her memories and pondering the mysteries of life, the universe and everything. That sort of thing.

And the mystery man she kept shamelessly staring at the entire time. Usually, she could get a good read off of people, but he was different. He was guarded, yet kept paradoxically letting whole bursts of emotion through. Like his entre psyche was strung out on a tension wire.

_Psychopath: emotionally compromised (EDD). Incapable of simple functional empathy. Narcissist. Impulsive (erratic)._

But…he was calculating, in his own way, which didn't fit the pattern. Then again, who did, completely? You could study the nuances of human existence down to the last detail, have someone's entire life story right before you, and _still _they'd be someone that surprised you. That's just how humans worked. And all she had to go on were the brief (erratic) bursts of electricity that kept chasing each other off his razor cheeks and out of his suddenly bright silver eyes. _That_ and…

She stared at nothing for a long time, mind slowly falling silent around her. Only it wasn't silent at all; it was like the crash of the seashore laid beneath the other noises whilst she stared. Low-functioning brain functions. Because, right at that moment, the higher functions were out of her grasp. Like wisps. At long last, late into the afternoon, as a blissful wind had picked up and the stranger paced agitatedly, she blinked, slowly lifting her head.

"You are. Aren't you?"

"What? Human, if you are incapable of staying silent, at the very least –"

"Alien."

"Well _obviously_; I did say."

"Shit." She breathed softly. "It's real."

* * *

_**A.N: Tell you what, I love writing the dialogue for these things, I really do. K, the bit at the start...well it made sense, and to be honest, I liked the idea of sticking it in considering the setting. Really, it's like that thing: 'where were you when this happened'. All the oldies say 'where were you when kenedy was shot?' well, I reckon it'll be 'where were you when nine-eleven happened?'. My personal remembering was what I gave to Jane, only I was half a world away in the middle of winter stuck on the coldest, hardest floor ever not moving, just watching all the footage coming in. It's one of the few things for which I have a complete, entire scene memory for a single second of my life. Anyway, it's an american thing, so I thought I'd spare it a thought.**_

_**EDD is emotional deficit dissorder. I think It's associated with stuff like aspergers and autism, but obviously there's a scale to it. It's just wiring in the brain and is why most psychopaths are literally 'born that way'. Having EDD doesn't automaticaly make one a psychopath, though, it just means they have a difficult time reading, understanding and experiencing human emotions.**_

_**So, whaddaya think?**_


End file.
